Heurelho Gomes causes a stir on Hoffenheim debut

The last time Heurelho Gomes played a professional league game was for Spurs against Blackpool in late 2011.

So his new club Hoffenheim can't have been forgiven for wondering which side of the notoriously unpredictable goalkeeper they would see.

The Bundesliga strugglers brought Gomes in on loan on transfer deadline day, and rushed the Brazilian straight into the side.

Hoffenheim had controversially dropped first choice Tim Wiese after a series of high profile mistakes, claiming it was 'for his own protection'.

So Gomes certainly had the spotlight upon him when they hosted eighth placed Freiburg on Saturday afternoon.

Fortunately for the new arrival, he passed the test with flying colours.

It didn't get off to the best start, he conceded in the fourth minute, but it improved from there on out, with Hoffenheim going onto win 2-1.

Gomes made four crucial saves throughout the match, and looked assured in claiming six crosses, commanding his penalty area.

He earned the praise of his manager Marco Short. He said: "Gomes has shown a very solid performance. Although he has only trained once with us, his aura was strong."

Now former captain Tim Wiese faces a real battle to regain his number one spot, and it's exactly what Gomes needs to rebuild his career.

Wiese is a very high profile player in Germany, and dual between the two 31-year-old will be played out in the spotlight, with German newspaper Bild devoting a whole page to the battle - describing it as a very 'bitter' day for Wiese with Gomes performing so well.

However well Gomes performs, it's clear he has no future at Spurs, Hugo Lloris is the clear number one for future seasons, so he's really playing for a summer move.

Even so, Tottenham fans should surely be happy to see Gomes getting back on track, it certainly beats playing in the reserves and watching on from the stands, and whether he can keep his spot as number one is a fascinating storyline to watch in the Bundesliga between now and the end of the season.

Dan Coombs

Dan Coombs is a writer who is keen to embrace the internet revolution. He first started writing for us in June 2011 and commenced his new role as Sports Editor in February 2012.
As a trained journalist he has met famous faces from Mr T to Boris Johnson. He once featured in an England World Cup music video too, but it did not make the charts.
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